37 pages • 1 hour read
Roald Dahl, Illustr. Quentin BlakeThe Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1985A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Pages 24-43Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Pages 24-43 Summary
A Rolls-Royce limousine pulls up and its chauffeur gets out. He announces that the Duke of Hampshire requests the Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company’s service: They are to clean the 677 windows of the Duke’s mansion. The Giraffe accepts, and the Pelican and the Monkey are overjoyed.
The Giraffe asks Billy for the location of the mansion. Billy says Hampshire House is nearby, and that he can direct them. The group sets off at once, the Monkey on the Giraffe’s back, the Pelican perched on her head, and Billy still in the Pelican’s beak. They arrive at a mansion with enough windows to keep the washers busy “forever”—where they find an elderly man with a giant mustache, the Duke of Hampshire, standing under a cherry tree, insisting he wants the “great big black juicy ones right at the very top!” (30). The Duke’s gardener says the ladder won’t reach that height, and the Duke is disappointed.
Still carrying Billy in his beak, the Pelican flies to the top of the tree and urges the boy to gather its cherries. The Duke, seeing the bird among his prized fruit, angrily calls for his gun: “I’ll have that thieving bird for breakfast, you see if I don’t” (32). Billy grabs the topmost cherries, and the Pelican swoops down and lands at the Duke’s feet. The boy holds out the cherries and offers them to the Duke. Stunned, the Duke demands to know who they are. The animals sing out that they’re the window washers.
The Duke eats a cherry. He asks if the group can pick apples in the fall; eagerly, they shout that they can. The Duke asks about Billy, and the Giraffe says he’s the team’s “Business Manager.” Billy jumps out of the Pelican’s beak, takes the Duke’s offered hand, and they all walk to the mansion. The Duke asks how they plan to clean his windows, and the Giraffe replies, “I am the ladder, the Pelly is the bucket and the Monkey is the cleaner. Watch us go!” (37).
The Monkey turns on a water tap, fills the Pelican’s beak, then climbs up to the top of the Giraffe’s head. The Duke tells them not to bother with the top windows because they won’t be able to reach them. The Giraffe, insulted, says she has a “magical neck,” and extends it longer and longer until her head is at the fourth floor. Both the Duke and Billy are astounded.
The Pelican flies up to a window sash with his mouthful of water, and the Monkey begins cleaning. In no time, they’ve finished the entire fourth floor on one side of the house. The Giraffe contracts her neck until the Monkey is level with the third floor, and he and the Pelican make short work of these windows. The Duke is delighted, as his windows have been dirty for 40 years, and he can finally enjoy the view from his mansion.
Pages 24-43 Analysis
The Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company gets its first job, and its members proudly show off their abilities at cleaning high windows and harvesting fruit from tall trees. Dahl, too, shows off his ability to generate whimsical ideas. These ideas make sense, but only in a world of talking animals. The Giraffe serves as a ladder with an extendable neck, the Pelican can easily carry gallons of water in its huge beak pouch, and the Monkey can reach the tallest windows with ease.
Billy, too, becomes part of the company as their “Business Manager.” He’s eager to help his new friends, knows his way around the neighborhood, and adapts quickly to new situations—such as working with the Pelican to harvest the Duke’s best cherries. He’s also polite and friendly to the Duke, who takes an instant liking to him and his animal friends. However, it’s clear that the Giraffe is the leader of the group. It’s she who accepts the Duke’s offer to clean his mansion’s many windows, and it’s she who dubs Billy the company’s “Business Manager.” She shows a sense of pride when the Duke questions her ability to reach the tallest windows. Like Billy, the Giraffe knows how to address the Duke politely, but gives the man a “small superior smile” when she demonstrates her extendable neck (40). She’s not intimidated by the Duke’s immense wealth and prestige.
The animals continue their tradition of singing about their work. The songs are simple, sincere, and silly, and capture the happy energy and dedication of the window washers. No Dahl story is complete without a series of unusual events: So far, Billy has befriended singing animals and a rich Duke, and witnessed the company’s window-washing firsthand. However, Billy is far from a passive protagonist, as he solves the Duke’s cherry problem and cements himself as part of the company—a dramatic change considering he begins the story alone.
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